Reduce Work-in-Process (WIP)
Inventory and Costs
82%
$10-$100M
20%
of senior
executives say
can be generated in 60-90 days by
improving inventory management3
Inventory reduction
is a major concern1
In additional costs come
from inventory risk2
1
Source: http://www.reliableplant.com/Read/141/reduce-inventories
2
Source: http://blog.jobboss.com/job-shop-software/reduce-inventoriesincrease-your-job-shops-bottom-line-by-30-or-more
3
Source: http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/uncovering-cash-and-insights-from-working-capital
Manual tracking of assembly
parts in heavy industry
Heavy industrial plants such as aviation,
transportation, and construction equipment require
a lot of shop floor space to assemble. Tracking parts
in different stages of assembly is a highly manual
process. In fact, even trying to find an assembly
can involve a manual search of the manufacturing
center. In some cases, companies have lost very large
products somewhere in their factory.
Six signs you may have a WIP problem
My plant floor is crammed with materials for future
orders or I have significant “starve” downtime
where required materials aren’t present for orders.
5
6
Indirect labor is high due
to lack of coordination
of material management.
4
It is hard to visualize
capacity versus
actual queues.
1
Operators work on the easiest
orders first, and I have no way to
re-prioritize orders in real time.
(FIFO method, by customer)
3
Without walking the shop
floor, no one or few people
know where the orders
are in the plant.
2
My WIP is high because no one or
few people know when orders will
be processed by work centers.
Now imagine if you could…
Take your manufacturing
to the next level
• Know where orders in your plant are without
walking the shop floor
The power of a WIP tracking and execution
solution can transform the way you
manufacture heavy industry products.
Today’s latest technology solutions
provide operators and supervisors
with the capabilities to:
• Reduce WIP by knowing when orders will be
processed by work centers
• Keep indirect labor costs low by providing
coordination of material movement
• Reduce shop floor clutter from materials waiting
for future orders, and operate more “in the now”
• Improve WIP visibility by providing visualization of the
order queue at stations
• Reduce plant floor “starve time” due to lack of
materials required for a process step
• Improve order tracking with insights such as the ETA
of orders based on progress
• Improve material movement management with
capabilities such as simple material movement data
collection (RFiD, barcode, manual)
Gain visibility of all work in process
Solutions such as GE Digital’s WIP Manager, part of
the Brilliant Manufacturing suite, provides plant floor
visibility of all work in process. It helps heavy industry
manufacturers lower working capital and increase
schedule adherence in days, not months.
Increase
or maintain
schedule
adherence
With WIP Manager, heavy
industry manufacturers
have delivered business
outcomes such as:
Built using Predix, the cloud-based operating system
for the Industrial Internet, WIP Manager helps
manage and reduce work in process by increasing
material visibility, ensuring right material at the right
time at the right place, and increasing or maintaining
schedule adherence.
Reduce WIP
Increase
material
visibility
Ensure
right material
at right time
at right place
10-20%
Reduced WIP & Material
Inventory
LEARN MORE ABOUT WIP MANAGER
15%
Improved Labor
Utilization